Even he couldn’t expect this. Not even an athlete as ambitious and confident as Erling Haaland could have imagined such rapid success.

League Cup and Dixie Dean. Those were two things he couldn’t do. Smallest cup and a goalscoring record from 1928 that will probably never be broken.

The 22-year-old has fixed the rest at the first attempt: league title, FA Cup, Champions League. He has been the top scorer in the Champions League and player of the year in England. He has the most goals in a Premier League season since the league started in 1992. He came to England, looked around and then he won what he deserves to win.

If English football was a computer game, Haaland would have nailed it on the first try.

At the same time, the Champions League final against Inter on Saturday is a game he has to win.

Closed table

Because even though being a league and cup champion means a lot to Haaland, it’s no secret that the Champions League has been hung as supreme so far.

Not only because it’s the hardest to win, but because Manchester City will win everything without Haaland. Last year he joined the best team in England. The table is set. They had bought him to win this tournament – and he got there for the same reason.

Jærbuen has scored 52 goals in 53 games, but without the Champions League one could argue City won without him. Especially since he’s had a goal drought in recent weeks, with one goal in seven games since his start, including a nameless appearance in the final.

Now the mission is over. The debate is dead. It is engraved on the trophy that Haaland has made the team better.

City have delivered a season that is close to perfection.

Parade

Only nine times before had a team in Europe won the three biggest tournaments in one season. Only Manchester United had done so before in England. The trip was full of drama and late goals.

With City, the road here looks like an unstoppable march where all opposition has been swept away.

Credit to Arsenal giving them a fight in the league. All credit to United losing the FA Cup final. Kudos to Inter for making Saturday’s match so even. The rest were eliminated as weak junior teams. Even giants like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have been overtaken and lost.

A team shouldn’t reach the Champions League final with aggregate results like 8–1, 4–1, and 5–1. City barely showed any weakness.

This may have something to do with Guardiola’s many painful defeats.

Cheat code

Few have suffered in this tournament like Guardiola. Although he won it with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, he is even more famous because he has never won before.

Before Saturday, he had never lifted the bucket without Lionel Messi. And guess if he heard it.

There are many fans who believe that Guardiola is overrated, that he won the league simply because he spent a lot of money, that Messi’s brilliance provided him with cheats.

Guardiola has lost one final and six semi-finals. He has missed away goals three times. The margins are often against it. Weaknesses have been exploited: Barcelona can struggle at set pieces, Bayern can be countered. Guardiola has often been accused of not having a Plan B.

So he has solved the problem by creating a do-everything team; which is so good that it almost takes no luck.

If you lie behind, City finds a small gap or hits the Norwegian tankhead. If you stand straight, the same men start from the back room. If you want to fight, they make you angry. If you focus on set-pieces and long passes they have three stoppers and two strong midfield anchors against you in low position. Never before has Guardiola created a more physical team. Yet City played football that was unquestionably his.

Few have managed to frustrate City as well as Inter. The final, which should be a formality for light blues, could have been the other way around.

But that’s not enough. In one game where City needed luck, they had it.

Sports washing season

Of course there is another side to this victory. We are still awaiting ruling on whether City breached a number of Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018, which City has denied. If they are found guilty, this year’s title will build on several years of cheating.

It’s embarrassing, but true, you have to keep this problem in mind.

One should also not forget that this is a milestone for the United Arab Emirates and a plan to divert attention from the country’s many gross human rights violations. Although privately owned by Sheikh Mansour, a member of the ruling royal family, City is connected to the country through identity and sponsorship. They played at the Etihad Stadium in a kit featuring Etihad Airways, the state-owned airline. They have sponsors linked to the state investment fund, Mubadala, which is run by Khaldoon Al-Mubarak, chairman of City.

It’s the title they’ve dreamed of since Sheikh Mansour, who was in City’s second game on Saturday, bought the club in 2008. It has been the sporting destination behind all the billions spent.

Add in the PR triumphs of neighbors Qatar and Saudi Arabia – such as the World Cup, Newcastle’s fourth place finish in the Premier League and the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo – it’s been a stellar season for the sports wash.

New elite

It is another debate how much players and coaches should be charged for such political factors. There is also the big question of who will stop City from winning even more. Previously, City were the “new rich” challenging the established elite.

City are now the world’s top earners and have five league titles in six years. They are elite.

This project is not finished. Guardiola and Haaland will stay. The cage is not old. New players may enter. Perhaps the rival’s greatest hope is that City have won enough; that they are sick of success now that the Champions League is finally underway.

But one suspects that the key character is too hungry to fall for that trap. Guardiola is unlikely to rest until he has won two more Champions League titles, which will earn him more than any other manager.

And Haaland? If we know him correctly, he’s just getting started.